KPS students receive early Christmas present

KEYSER - Students at Keyser Primary School received an early Christmas present on their last day of school before the holiday break.

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Jackson Newspapers - Ripley, WV

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Posted Dec. 24, 2013 at 2:39 PM

Posted Dec. 24, 2013 at 2:39 PM

By Liz Beavers

lbeavers@newstribune.info

Tribune Managing Editor

KEYSER - Students at Keyser Primary School received an early Christmas present on their last day of school before the holiday break.

With the new Keyser Primary School slated to open on Jan. 8, principal Karen Wegener took the students on a tour of the new school Friday and even let them move some of their belongings into their new classrooms.

"Mrs. Wegener took them over, class by class, grade by grade, and introduced them to their new classrooms," assistant superintendent Steve Peer told the News Tribune.

The students were enchanted by their new environs, and had such comments as:

"Every step is a magic moment!"

"If feels like a future school!" and even,

"It's better than my mom's meatloaf!"

Wegener said the students' enthusiasm for the new school was infectious.

"It was wonderful to see how excited the kids were--the most common comment was 'this is awesome!,'" she said, noting that "they noticed all the details in the floor tile and the skylights.

"One of the first graders wanted to know if there would be toys on the library shelves," she said." I told him there would be books...he looked around and said that books are nice, but toys would be better," she said, laughing.

The new Keyser Primary School will house grades pre-k through four from Keyser and all its feeder schools.

It was originally slated to open in August but a problem with the curing of the concrete floors delayed the opening and Keyser Primary students were forced to stay in the old Keyser Primary-Middle building in a "school-within-a-school" arrangement.

Last week, however, Peer announced that the new school would be opening in January.

While most Mineral County students will be returning to school Jan. 2, Keyser's pre-k through fourth graders will get a little bit longer break - returning on Jan. 8 - while staff members complete the move.

Wegener said she is excited for the transition to be complete.

"I look forward to starting 2014 in our new space. Being able to move has been one of the best Christmas gifts ever," she said.